The thick and inflexible silicone bags were created to be used in many areas to meet a growing need for reusable and eco-friendly alternative to plastic bags. While the plastic bags can be washed by hand, the thin plastic layers are not suited for machine washing, making washing of the bags inconvenient and undesirable to most users. Thus, the plastic bags are often disposed of after only a single or few uses.
In addition to not being reusable, plastic bags are made from a limited resource (fossils fuels) and contain many dangerous chemicals such as BPA, BPS, BPF, PVC and phthalates, which can migrate out of plastic and pose danger to people's health. The excess plastic waste pollutes the environment endangering aquatic and soil organisms. The public perception is that the disposal of plastic bags after a single or only a few uses is increasing viewed as wasteful and environmentally harmful.
The use of silicone to replace plastic is both better for people's health and for the environment. Silicone is made from a plentiful resources (silica), is reusable, does not contain any dangerous chemicals and does not release any chemicals into the environment, is resistant to extreme temperatures, is recyclable and non-toxic to aquatic and soil organisms. Today, more than ever, there is a growing desire to use alternative products that are reusable and environmentally friendly. Therefore, there is a growing need for the reusable silicone bags as an alternative to plastic bags that would appeal to a broad spectrum of customers.
The silicone bags can be used in many areas, however, due to silicone exceptional temperature and chemical resistance, they are best suited for use in kitchenware for food storage, heating, cooking, steaming, and freezing.
Such silicone bags are typically made from silicone material that provides an internal volume into which the food items can be inserted. To access the internal volume, the storage bag is typically formed with an opening. Furthermore, to otherwise prevent the contents from spilling out of the bag, the silicone bag typically also includes a closure system for closing the opening. To allow for repeated access to the internal volume, the plastic closure systems are commonly utilized to repeatedly attach to and disconnect from the bag.
The prior art closure system for thick, inflexible bags of the type is a molded one-piece hard plastic roll-on bar that slides along both edges of the silicone bag from one side to the other to close it. This type of closure is unsatisfactory in several respects. It is only air-tight and, therefore, it does not provide the versatility to meet the needs of today's consumer. Said roll-on bar closure is difficult to move along edges of the bag to close it, sometimes requiring the use of oil to lubricate it to fully close the bag. Furthermore, said roll-on bar closure is not microwave-friendly and does not allow for versatility of use in the microwave. Furthermore, said roll-on bar closure frequently does not provide an airtight seal which is essential in order to prevent food spoilage.
In light of the discussion above, there is required a closure assembly for a bag and a method of closing the bag, that does not suffer from above mentioned deficiencies.
Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the words “comprise”, “comprises” and “comprising” will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated step or element or group of steps or elements but not the exclusion of any other step or element or group of steps or elements.
Any one of the terms: “including” or “which includes” or “that includes” as used herein is also an open term that also means including at least the elements/features that follow the term, but not excluding others.
Any discussion of the background art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such background art is prior art nor that such background art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge in the field in United States or worldwide.